DOL fines Calif. restaurant owners for wage theft
The Department of Labor fined the two owners of an Ukiah, Calif. Thai restaurant. The owners were convicted of wage theft spanning a three-year period from June 2010 to June 2013.
A joint investigation from the Department of Industrial Relations and the DOL determined employees of the restaurants routinely worked more than 11 hours per day for six or seven days a week, according to local paper, The Ukiah Daily Journal. Workers did not receive rest breaks or overtime compensation, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In addition to these oversights, some of the employees alleged they were forced to sign time cards which contained falsified information saying they worked only five to six hours per day. Other employees were paid in cash and were not provided with payroll records containing hours worked, rate of pay or deductions.
The owners were ordered to pay 47 workers more than $1 million in unpaid minimum wage, nearly $400,000 in unpaid overtime and more than $153,000 in premiums for untaken rest periods.
Employers can avoid government investigation by using attendance software to maintain and disseminate records of employee hours. In addition, supervisors should make sure workers receive overtime compensation for time worked in excess of 40 hours.
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